At Home At Last

Celebrating the Jewish holidays in Israel.

I grew up as a strongly identified Jew in Christian America. This posed few problems ten and a half months a year. But every November, when the Xmas decorations started to go up, so did my defenses. The annual Xmas concert in my public school was a real identity crisis for me. Should I refuse to participate? Should I go up on the stage with the rest of my class and just mouth the words of the Christmas carols? Should I sing, but go silent every time we came to the "J" word?

The concerts ended with elementary school, but not my sense of alienation every December. I felt like I was milling around in a party to which I was not invited. Ours was the only house on our street without decorations. Every department store Santa and every brilliantly lit tree, as well as the avalanche of Xmas cards from my Christian (and Jewish!) friends only accentuated my sense of not belonging.

The Jewish holidays were even more embarrassing. Staunch Conservative Jews, in my family the children did not attend public school on Jewish holidays. In the autumn, that meant missing seven days of school right at the beginning of the term. While some teachers were understanding, others were not. And it didn't help matters any that classmates with names like Schwartz and Goldstein did attend school on Sukkot. Who ever heard of Sukkot anyway?

In Israel, it's finally my party.

After 35 years of living in a Christian country (and two years of living in a Hindu one), I now live in a Jewish country. And the very best time of year here in Israel is the holiday season -- from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur and Sukkot. (Everyone's heard of Sukkot here!) Finally it's my party.

The party starts a couple weeks before Rosh Hashana, when the electric, phone, and credit card bills arrive with their wishes for a "Sweet New Year for the Whole House of Israel." Then the New Year cards decorated with shofars, apples, and honey start arriving from the accountant, the bank, and the dentist. All the supermarkets feature sales on honey.

Jewish tradition teaches that negative decrees for the new year can be reversed by "prayer, charity, and repentance." The air throbs with all three during this period.

Special penitential prayers to be recited sometime between midnight and dawn start before Rosh Hashana and continue until Yom Kippur. In the predawn darkness the narrow, cobbled streets of my neighborhood, Jerusalem's Old City, are filled with people scurrying to their synagogues, as well as groups from all over Israel making their way to the Kotel (the Western Wall).

The sages of the Talmud promised that the Divine Presence would never leave the Western Wall. All day and all night thousands of Jews flock to the Kotel. While usually there's the hubbub of people meeting and greeting each other, during this period before Yom Kippur, when life or death will be decreed for every person, the only sound is of fervent prayer. All kinds of Jews throng to the Kotel -- girls in long skirts and girls in jeans, women wearing tight kerchiefs and women wearing shorts. All pray with the same intensity, like a person granted a private audience with the Judge right before his/her sentence is to be handed down. The atmosphere of ardent prayer is pierced only by the recurrent blast of a shofar -- a clarion call to repentance.

At 11 PM on the night before Rosh Hashana this year, my husband sits down to make his last-minute charity contributions. Taking advantage of the hi-tech option, he phones the toll-free numbers on a few charity appeals to donate by credit card. I tell him it's probably too late; Israel is a country that goes to sleep early. Much to my surprise, people are manning the lines at that late hour. The Israeli version of the last-minute Xmas shopping rush is the last-minute Rosh Hashana charity rush.

Of course, all the holidays -- Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and the first and last day of Sukkot -- are official national holidays. No school, no banks, no stores, no offices, no public transportation.

Over 80 % of Israeli Jews fast on Yom Kippur.

On Yom Kippur, the country completely stops. No radio nor television stations broadcast. Ben Gurion Airport is the only major airport in the world that closes down one day a year.

Over 80 % of Israeli Jews fast on Yom Kippur. In a country as famously fractured as Israel, it is astounding that over 80 % of us could ever agree to do the same thing at the same time. To paraphrase the well-known quip, in a country of 6,000,000 Jews, there are 6,000,001 opinions. But on Yom Kippur, the only opinion that counts in God's, and the vast majority of us know it.

Right after the fast, the somber gravity of Yom Kippur gives way to the ebullience of Sukkot, which starts five days later. Sukkot is the holiday of joy. After 40 days of introspection and repentance, we are cleansed on Yom Kippur as if born anew. Our sins are not only forgiven, but erased, like a huge cloud disappearing into the blue sky. Sin distances us from God. The atonement granted on Yom Kippur restores our closeness to God. On Succot, we celebrate that closeness.

Celebration is everywhere in the air. Ace Hardware in Jerusalem sells easy-to-put-together sukkahs, prominently displayed outside the store. Home Center features sales on fold-up tables and beds, perfect for eating and sleeping in the succah. The malls are crowded with tables offering succah decorations.

The final day of the holiday season is Simchat Torah, the holiday of rejoicing with the Torah. Over 60 % of Israeli Jews dance with the Torah. Many synagogues take their Torah scrolls out into the streets to dance with them. There's no sense of embarrassment or shyness. After all, it's our party.

Sara Yoheved Rigler’s all-encompassing online marriage program, “Choose Connection: How to Revive and Rejuvenate Your Marriage” is available to Aish.com readers at a special price. Click here for more info: http://www.jewishworkshops.com/webinars/connection/

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About the Author

Sara Yoheved Rigler is a popular international lecturer on subjects of Jewish spirituality. She has given lectures and workshops in Israel, England, France, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Panama, and over 35 American cities. She is one of the most popular authors on Aish.com, world’s biggest Judaism website, and is a columnist for Ami Magazine. Sara Yoheved Rigler is the author of five best-sellers: Holy Woman; Lights from Jerusalem; Battle Plans: How to Fight the Yetzer Hara (with Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller); G-d Winked; and Heavenprints . She gives a weekly Marriage Webinar for Jewish Workshops on a spiritual approach to marriage, with hundreds of members throughout the world. She lives in the Old City of Jerusalem. Her newest book, Emunah with Love and Chicken Soup, the story of Henny Machlis, the Brooklyn-born girl who became a Jerusalem legend, was was released in November, 2016. Her website is: sararigler.com.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 6

(6)
Char,
October 4, 2006 11:32 PM

One Big Party -- Sukkot

L'Shana Tova to you and everyone at Aish HaTorah and Eretz Yisroel, and also to all Jews everywhere. Thanks for letting us be there with you. There is a day coming, when we shall all be in Eretz Yisroel and it will be the best Sukkat ever, we'll be able to smell the air, while our feet are planted firmly in the land of Yisroel, greeting each other as we do our mitzvots. Our joy will be overflowing on that day. In the meantime, thanks for bringing us home for a little while to a place and time we yearn and hope for ... maybe next year in Yerushalayim! Shalom!

Everything I read of Yocheved is so good !! she's just great ! thanks.I'd send it to RA(Conservative) and Reform , so they can use and promote it too.

(4)
StephenRubin,
October 3, 2006 10:50 AM

B"HWonderful story. Please tell me what year Sara graduated Brandeis. I'm a graduate of the class of '79, grew up Conservative, lived in Israel for 12 years and have been a religious Zionist for over 30 years.Shana Tova Steve Rubin

(3)
BrachaKurtzer,
October 1, 2006 2:24 AM

I agree!

My family made Aliya this year, and its an amazing feeling to know that this year, "it's OUR party." I agree 100% with those beautiful feelings you expressed about the chagim during this time of year. Its so beautiful, so unique, so unlike any other holiday season I've EVER celebrated!

In fact, my family is on the way to the Kotel right now, Erev Yom Kippur, to get in a good word with the one above!

Thank you for your beautiful and eloquent description of the magic of te chagim in Israel- It's our time to shine!

(2)
Daniela,
September 29, 2006 3:10 PM

Just to throw something in... :)

The x-mas shopping rush does indeed occur in Israel. Secular Israelis give each other gifts on Rosh Hashanah, according to my best friend who works at the Great Ace store in Tel Aviv. The shopping rush there before this Rosh Hashanah was astounding. He also told me about the Succot deco and supplies sold there starting well before Rosh HaShanah. Pretty amazing. With no desire to be religious, stuff like this is exactly why he made Aliyah last March. :)

(1)
AuraSlovin,
September 29, 2006 1:12 PM

The Kedusah is in the air....over there!

Thank you so much for your most beautiful article on living in a Jewish land.One of my first jobs as a Registered Nurse was in Sha'are Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem. I worked in the Neonatal ICU and I was on a special year long program for "foreign Nurses" that I had seen advertised in a NY Paper. I remember most vividly seeing the strange sight of Bamboo and Thatch-covered cars the weeks before Succot as people bought Schach and transported it home on the roofs of their cars. Most significantly what stood out in my mind - especially as this was the first time, I spent a whole year in Eretz Yisroel, was that December 25th came and went and I never noticed. I only took notice when Pat, the Catholic American Respiratory Therapist came into the NICU the last week in December complaining loudly how 'empty and free-of-decorations' Jerusalem was. I remember turning to her and saying, "Well Pat you must remember you are in a Jewish Country now, we celebrate different holidays".She just stared at me saying, Yeh...you're right.Thank you for the memories.It's time we all came home.Good Yom Tov and G'mar Tov to you and to all Klal Yisroel.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!